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The aerial photo taken on July 30, 2010 shows the flood-battered area in Antu County of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, northeast China's Jilin Province. (Xinhua/Jiang Hechun)
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CHANGCHUN, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Floods have left 74 people dead and 71 missing in northeast China's Jilin Province over the past two months, Jilin's civil affairs department said Tuesday.
Since June, torrential rains have disrupted the lives of nearly 4.6 million people in the province, forcing the evacuation of more than 784,000 people, the department said in a statement to Xinhua.
Moreover, more than 64,000 houses have collapsed and 265,000 others have been damaged while over 1.25 million hectares of farmland have been inundated.
Direct economic losses are estimated at 26.4 billion yuan (3.9 billion U.S. dollars).
In the hardest-hit areas, flash floods have cut roads, isolated villages and disrupted communications and water supplies.
Flooding may worsen as more downpours are forecast to hit the province over the next three days.
In Tonghua City workers are rushing to repair flood-damaged water pipelines. The city is among the hardest-hit by the floods, according to Zhu Qiwen, deputy head of the provincial weather bureau.
